Great Demon Sun Wukong

The immense mountain, standing thousands of meters tall, was directly brought down by the Six-Eared Macaque, but the Six-Eared Macaque simultaneously reverted to its true form, managing to swiftly return to where Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and the others were. While the Primordial Honor was undoubtedly cunning, skilled in schemes, Sun Wukong had long surpassed his former self; previously, he relied solely on brute strength, but now, having gone through so many experiences, his calculations and strategies were on par with anyone. Moreover, Sun Wukong had a distinctive trait, that being whenever he thought of a plan, he would execute it immediately.

This time, Sun Wukong's plan seemed to be very effective. The Primordial Honor had embedded himself into the gigantic mountain, while Sun Wukong walked slowly to the stone where the skeletal Primordial Honor had been sitting to check if it had any unusual attributes. Before doing so, Sun Wukong first focused his gaze on the Demon Emperor Halberd still suspended in midair. Just earlier, when Sun Wukong confronted the Primordial Honor, both seemed ready to mutually perish; however, the Primordial Honor indeed thought he could endure Sun Wukong's attacks effortlessly due to his unique body.

Sun Wukong, however, wasn't truly intending to perish together with the Primordial Honor, and his actions were actually a gamble. When the Six-Eared Macaque first appeared, Sun Wukong excitedly sensed a strange thought wave; while acting calmly, he secretly discerned the source of this peculiar wave. Quickly, Sun Wukong's Heaven and Earth Fire Eyes discovered the wave emanated from within the Myriad Blood Halberd, leading him to devise his battle strategy.

"You are free!" It seemed both as a sigh and an envy, Sun Wukong raised his right hand, with his fingertip emitting five-colored light, then gently tapped the Myriad Blood Halberd. With Sun Wukong's touch, the Myriad Blood Halberd suddenly trembled violently, as though something inside was trying to breakthrough. Soon, the tremors escalated to an unimaginable degree; Sun Wukong's expression was complex as he increased the five-colored light flow from his hand. As another surge of five-colored light infused, the Myriad Blood Halberd abruptly became still.

Immediately following, on the halberd's shaft, at the crack made by the White Dragon's Oblivion Dragon bite, the Myriad Blood Halberd slowly began to crumble. Within moments, the crack had spread across the entire halberd. The Myriad Blood Halberd was created by a Pioneer who fused nine World Suppressing Steles and countless lives' flesh and souls; although it differed from the Primordial Honor's original Golden Myriad Blood Halberd, he found it handy to wield.

At that time, the Myriad Blood Halberd was the universe's hardest weapon; nothing, not even the teeth of Oblivion Dragon, nor all of one's powerful attacks combined, could inflict any damage upon it. The nine World Suppressing Steles formed this universe's core; as long as the universe existed, the steles would remain intact. Yet, something exceedingly durable is often vulnerable to internal decay when resistant to external forces. Thus, when the Myriad Blood Halberd merged with the Demon Emperor Halberd, it sowed seeds of destruction into itself.

The Demon Emperor Halberd is a companion weapon of Ling Weiyang's Purple Gold Halberd, after devouring Xi Zhao's Formless Vanishing. Its prowess can be likened to the effect of injecting Kirin Power into Dao Zhun's Formless Divine Sword back in the day; moreover, once perfectly merged, the Demon Emperor Halberd's force surpasses expectations. Most importantly, it's the halberd's Artifact Spirit, which can transform into a human form with an independent consciousness capable of acting autonomously. Though not unique, the Demon Emperor Halberd's Artifact Spirit is indisputably the strongest of them all. As for Myriad Blood Halberd, it too possessed an Artifact Spirit, and more than one at that.

The Myriad Blood Halberd's spirits were two figures, one black and one white, discovered back when Sun Wukong was in the Wasteland Stele. After the Myriad Blood Halberd merged with the Demon Emperor Halberd, massive changes occurred within. The Demon Emperor Halberd's Artifact Spirit eliminated the two Artifact Spirits of the Myriad Blood Halberd. Without those spirits, the Myriad Blood Halberd was rendered useless, and it's at that time the White Dragon's Oblivion Dragon bit onto it.

With external damage compounded by the disappearance of the spirits, the Myriad Blood Halberd shattered. After obliterating the two spirits, the Demon Emperor Halberd's spirit was severely damaged and could no longer sustain itself. Otherwise, when the Myriad Blood Halberd thrust towards Sun Wukong, it wouldn't have stopped in midair; the agreement between Demon Emperor Halberd's spirit and Sun Wukong was such that the Myriad Blood Halberd was supposed to lose control and heavily wound the Primordial Honor.

Ultimately, this is to express one thing—the Myriad Blood Halberd will disappear. Those cracks swiftly spread throughout the halberd's shaft; as Sun Wukong drew his hand back from the Myriad Blood Halberd, now riddled with cracks, it suddenly emitted a burst of light in seven, no, ten colors. This light poured through the cracks, painting the sky above the halberd with vibrant hues. Those ten different colors grew increasingly intense, ultimately merging into one cohesive entity. These diverse colors combined to become white—a kind of white that instills peace at first glance.

Sun Wukong slowly retreated as the white light grew denser, transforming into a milky-white spherical light with a diameter of seven to eight meters, while the others watched in astonishment, clueless about the unfolding scene. Soon enough, the white sphere split open, but suddenly a blood-red light shot skyward, reaching tens of thousands of meters high, then explosively shattered, sending countless tiny fragments scattering in all directions. These light beams and fragments contained rich vital energy and soul essence—clearly, the flesh and souls amassed by the Pioneer across the universe. Now, with the Myriad Blood Halberd's spirit extinguished, its innate power was inadequate to constrain them. Encouraged by Sun Wukong's Five Elements Power and the Demon Emperor Halberd spirit's aid, these soul essences packed with vital energy surged out, returning to their original worlds to undergo reincarnation.

For nearly half a stick of incense, the blood pillar inside the white sphere gradually dimmed until it vanished. Sun Wukong let out a sigh of relief, while Tang Sanzang clasped his hands in a prayer, loudly reciting Amitabha Buddha. Upon hearing his master's voice, Sun Wukong paused and quickly turned to look, only to find Tang Sanzang standing nearby, but Zhibei was nowhere to be seen. Before Sun Wukong could inquire further, the white sphere cracked open again, splitting directly into nine.

The nine milky-white spheres scattered but didn't fly away like the other fragments; instead, they lined up, circling around the group. At this moment, from the large pit made by Six-Eared Macaque's impact, the enormous mountain erupted with a thunderous sound, collapsing in the central section. Amidst the dust cloud from the falling summit, the Primordial Honor emerged.

"You truly deserve to die, for not only ruining my plans but also destroying my Myriad Blood Halberd. If I don't crush you into dust, I am not fit to be the Primordial Honor." His roar filled with spine-chilling terror. The nine spheres perceived the threat in his voice, accelerating their slow movement, then all the spheres hovered around Sha Wujing, circling above his head.

Sha Wujing gazed at the nine white spheres, each about the size of a watermelon, feeling an uncanny familiarity. Of course, this familiarity was not with these spheres directly but with the appearance of these spheres forming a circle. "Old Sha, isn't this reminiscent of your former skeletal prayer beads?" Zhu Bajie's words awakened him to the memory, and Sha Wujing abruptly realized from where this sense of familiarity came. Long ago, he wore this necklace made of nine inherited beads around his neck.

Before heading to the Western Paradise to obtain scriptures, Sha Wujing wore a necklace made of nine skulls; once becoming a monk, he felt the skulls were too ghastly, so he transformed them into nine prayer beads. He had always carried these skeletal prayer beads, but lost them during the battle in the Pangu Realm. Thus, seeing the connected nine spheres overhead aroused a feeling of familiarity in Sha Wujing.

Just as Zhu Bajie finished speaking, the nine spheres abruptly increased their rotation speed, and as they spun, the watermelon-sized spheres shrank gradually to the size of fists. Even the colors changed; in everyone's astonished gaze—including Sha Wujing's—the nine-colored beads directly fell onto Sha Wujing's neck, resembling a necklace of nine-colored prayer beads.

"No, damn it, damn it."

Seeing the nine spheres resting around Sha Wujing's neck, the Primordial Honor released a cry of furious lament. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you're welcome to vote for it on Starting Point (qidian.com) with recommendation and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivator. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)